John Neville (died 1420)
John Neville (c.1387 - May 1420) was the eldest son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (c.1364–1425) by the earl's first wife, Margaret Stafford (d.1396).[1] Little is known of his upbringing or youth, but he was clearly expected to inherit his father's powerful position in Northern England. John acquired a castle at Kirkbymoorside, which was about 13 miles north of his father's caput of Sheriff Hutton.[2] Ralph had been Warden of the West March since 1403, and John took his place in 1414. He played a significant part in helping his father achieve the return of the young Henry Percy from Scotland (where his father, the earl of Northumberland, had exiled them both), in order that Percy marry John's half-sister, Eleanor.<<Ross, thesis, 25>>
However, sometime before 1396 his father had married Joan Beaufort, an illiegitimate daughter of John of Gaunt, and soon after- and possibly as a direct consequence- the earl commenced a long string of enfeoffments in favour of the children he was now having with Joan, particularly the eldest, Richard, later Earl of Salisbury. This effectively disinherited John, who curiously, seems to have "acquiesced" in the process, as on one occasion at least, he personally acted as a witness to one of the transfers. <<Ross, thesis>>It is possible that Ralph did not intend to deprive John of as much as he eventually did: Ralph made a will in 1404 which, many years later, John's son (also Ralph) appears to have believed very much favoured his side of the family. This will was in any case superseded by a much later one, written after John had predeceased his father,[1] which happened whilst he was in France in May 1420.
It has been suggested that John Neville is one of the figures represented in the Neville Book of Hours of c.1431.[3]
References
- ^ a b Tuck, A. (2004). "Neville, Ralph, first earl of Westmorland (c.1364–1425)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Emery, A. (196). Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500. Vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 136 n. 20. ISBN 052149723X.
- ^ Laynesmith, J. (2017). Cecily Duchess of York. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 192 n. 36. ISBN 1474272258.